Black Mag Powder

[cantremembermyid]

I know that there has been a lot of positive comments about Blackhorn 209. I have a new Knight LRH that has hangfires with Blackhorn 209 even with the hotter primers, although I have more trial and error to do with it and Blackhorn 209.

Now it appears that Knight will not make a conversion for the LRH to use with Blackhorn 209. (Bummer.) This has got me curious about Black Mag Powder. Has anyone had experiences with this powder? From reports on the web, the powder appears to be quite clean, but there are mixed reports regarding accuracy.

If you have had experience with Black Mag powder, I would like to hear your thoughts.

[kevin k]

none of our gun shops will stock it said its not worth it and didnt stand to there test so thats all i know but they jumped on blackhorn 209 must be a reason. kevin

[robnj]

I had no luck with Black Mag either. I purchased 3 jugs of it and tried it in my Omega to eliminate crud ring. I just couldn't get it to shoot as accurately 777.

Looks like BH209 is replacing 777 in both my Omega and Knight Elite... in spite of the cost.

If you're still having issues with your Knight and BH209, I have an extra FPJ concave breech plug.. just PM me your address.
Or I would give Knight a call.

[bluedog]

I can say without hestitation that BlackMag powder is the very BEST BP powder sub I have ever used....period! Let me qualify this statement with the admission that I have never used BH209 so I cannot compare it to that powder.....also, let me say that most of the BlckMag I have used was the older BlackMag2 version and I only used it in my MK-85s.....I have also used the newer BlackMag3 version but only on a limited basis and also only in my MK85. I have previously used Clean-Shot, Clear Shot, 777, Pyrodex, and real BP.....BlackMag makes all these look like junk! My rifles shot MOA with BlackMag, never misfired (used Musket Caps) and cleaned up very easily....I can't say it was noncorrosive since I always cleaned my rifle at the end of the day upon firing it, but there were several years that I stored my rifle after the ML season for the year after loading BlackMag on a clean barrel......at the beginning of the next season, I would take my charged rifle out of the safe, to the range, cap it, and it ALWAYS fired and there was never any corrosion! I bought enough of BM2 to last me about 10 years and I used it for about that length of time.....it went out of production for several years and when it was reintroduced it was changed to a finer grain, different color and renamed BM3.....I use smokeless now but I still have my MK85 and I still have a jug of BlackMag for it. It is accurate, powerful, and very reliable! Great stuff.

[cantremembermyid]

Thanks everyone for your information. There is a lot of good information being exchanged on this message board. I will give Black Mag a try if I can't get consistency with the ignition of Blackhorn 209 in my Knight LRH. It's probably too early to give up on the Blackhorn 209.

[mlkeith]

I also have had past experience with BM3 and all my results were great. Constant ignition under all conditions, no crud ring, excellent accuracy with my T/C Omega. Difficult to find and most of the problem is distribution since they are not part of a large powder company like BH209. The main reason that it is not in shops is that there is no large powder company pushing it. One of the large powder companies also according to rumors have blacklisted BM3 and will not stock stores that order BM3. Personally I hope that is not true but if it is I am really ticked as BM3 worked great for me. It is available online with unfortunately the hazmat fee unless you buy the small packages and they get very expensive too.

[larryfox1]

I have use BM3 alot.It is a very good powder.It has great ignition in every thing i have use it in.I have seen it use in the Flash Pans in flinters,Where it also work great.It is very easy to clean.It is a good powder, and as long as the makers keep it out for sale on the market like they should ,i will keep buying it

[cantremembermyid]

Apr 2, 2009 20:42:18 GMT -5 larryfox1 said:

I have use BM3 alot.It is a very good powder.It has great ignition in every thing i have use it in.I have seen it use in the Flash Pans in flinters,Where it also work great.It is very easy to clean.It is a good powder, and as long as the makers keep it out for sale on the market like they should ,i will keep buying it

Thanks for the input. I'll probably give BM3 a try. I have concerns about the reliability of ignition of Blackhorn 209 in Knight Rifles. Hopefully, Knight Rifles and Western Powder can get together and address that concern for existing Knight rifle users/customers.

[screwbolts]

Apr 3, 2009 7:31:05 GMT -5 cantremembermyid said:

Apr 2, 2009 20:42:18 GMT -5 larryfox1 said:

I have use BM3 alot.It is a very good powder.It has great ignition in every thing i have use it in.I have seen it use in the Flash Pans in flinters,Where it also work great.It is very easy to clean.It is a good powder, and as long as the makers keep it out for sale on the market like they should ,i will keep buying it

Thanks for the input. I'll probably give BM3 a try. I have concerns about the reliability of ignition of Blackhorn 209 in Knight Rifles. Hopefully, Knight Rifles and Western Powder can get together and address that concern for existing Knight rifle users/customers.

What sabot/bullet combo are you trying to light the BH209 behind?

How tight is this combo to load?

What primer are using?

IMHO BH209 does reguire a tight sabot bullet fit to reliably light the powder. I find that the safe minimum is 35 lbs to seat the sabot/bullet, I do use a bathroom scale to check my loading pressure in the shop. If your rifle weights 10 lbs then the minimum registered pressure would be 45 lbs. I like to see 50 to 60 as a minimum. To get a tighter fit with your current Bullet/sabot you can knurl the bullet with 2 files and make them appear to have a larger diameter by raising the surface with knurling. this is very easy to do and with a little practice you will be very consistent.

I have shot 2 lbs of BH209 out of a Knight T-bolt that I reworked the bolt on. It never fails to light BH209 as long as it takes two hands to seat the boolit/sabot thing. I also use the Winchester 209 primer. As I understand primers, CCI 209M is hotter, Fed 209A is the hottest. ;D ;D ;D

I have shot so much BH209 and other powders from this gun that I eroded the vent .040. Because of that, I have now fitted the Breech plug with a savage style vent liner.

The Knight breech plug that I am using looks the same as the breech plug for the Vision. I have no use or need for plastic jackets. the 209 goes right in th BP.

ken